


Dogpile

by littlericky



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Family, Gen, Hatake Kakashi-centric, Modern, Other, Parent Hatake Kakashi, Team as Family, i'm just giving kakashi the happiness he deserves, kakashi is a single dad, they're a happy and dysfunctional family with 8 dogs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-02-08 07:39:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12859908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlericky/pseuds/littlericky
Summary: Akino is the sixth adoption - an attempt to fill the emptiness. Uhei is the seventh, Guruko the eighth. Finally, Kakashi gives up.





	1. Handler

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to my happy dad!kakashi au, where I give kakashi the happiness he deserves via a family of 12. strap in. 
> 
> tw for hospitals in the first chapter! i apologize for the angsty start but its necessary! lmk what you think!

Kakashi is 18 when he adopts his sixth dog. 

Akino is a mutt, looks vaguely like a shiba inu mix, and falls in love with Kakashi within seconds. He’d walked into the adoption center and made his rounds, poking his finger through the fences and stifling the flicker of anger at the state of the kennels - the town doesn’t have much money, and what there is doesn’t go toward luxury hotels for dogs. It doesn’t take much for Kakashi to tamp down on the emotion. He’s grown good at it, throws the wet towel over the fire without so much as a thought. 

He leaves with Akino on a leash, panting happily and looking up at him with admiration, the way most dogs do, because dogs have all the love in the world in their heart and aim it at the nearest person they can find. Some miniscule warmth spreads from Kakashi’s heart to his ribs, filling in the serrated hole, but it doesn’t last long. It never does. 

Uhei is the seventh, Guruko the eighth, and finally Kakashi gives up.

 

~

 

“ _ Eight _ dogs? Eight!” Kushina chastises Kakashi, piling more mashed potatoes onto his plate. “Eat, you’re too skinny these days!”

“You and Minato have  _ five, _ ” Kakashi says in a voice he hardly recognizes, its so humorous and loud. He looks down at the toddler in his lap. “And Naruto! Practically  _ six!”  _

Only at the Uzumaki’s house does the warmth that two years ago disappeared permeate his whole being, again. He bounces three year old Naruto on one knee, playing keep away with a spoon as Naruto’s grubby fists reach and reach, sounds of toddler frustration spilling from his mouth. His blonde hair sticks in all directions, and Kakashi is fairly sure he sees a cheerio in there, too. Kakashi knows Kushina’s main source of frustration is Naruto’s thick head of hair - inherited from Minato. At this point, she just lets Naruto put whatever he wants in his hair, and hopes it washes out at the end of the day. 

Kakashi slyly picks the cheerio out and tosses it into the trash can when Kushina’s back is turned. Naruto shouts in glee, and Kakashi grins and blows a raspberry on his stomach. 

“There’s  _ two _ of us to take care of them,” Kushina says back, after she’s done carefully lifting food out of the oven. Her playful glare turns to an apologetic look immediately when she realizes her implication. Kakashi turns to his potatoes, attempting to swallow the knot in his throat. Naruto is fist deep, smearing the potatoes across Kakashi’s plate, yelling nonsense. He hasn’t got a great handle on words yet. Kakashi nods and makes an expressive face at Naruto, who shouts in response. 

“Kakashi is perfectly capable of taking care of his dogs,” Minato says as he comes into the kitchen, washing his hands before relieving Kakashi of Naruto with a hearty slap on the shoulder. He sits down on the other side of the table and begins snapping Naruto into his high chair. Kakashi shoots him a grateful look and Minato winks. “He’s always had a knack for that whistle - the one where you pinch your lip with your fingers. Wish I knew how to do that.” 

Kakashi grins wryly, then braves a bit of dinner. Kushina cooks so much, and Kakashi’s appetite hasn’t been what it was since he was 16. She continues to shoot him concerned looks, but Kakashi visits regularly, so he’s used to it. He ignores it in favor of talking to Minato about Minato’s new job at the local mill and making funny faces at Naruto, who shrieks in glee.

When he leaves, Kushina helps Naruto give Kakashi a wet, smacking kiss. He yells, “‘Kashi!” and Kakashi waves and smiles bigger than he has in the last month. If he thinks about it enough, he’ll realize that the last time he smiled this big was when he last visited Kushina and Minato’s house. As he walks home, the warmth in his chest fades like a light being dimmed.

He doesn’t think about it. 

 

~

 

Kakashi is the first - and only - one at the hospital, less than 15 minutes after he gets the news. He’d been reading, only the lamp in the living room on, all of the dogs settled in their respective dog beds on the living room floor. The sound of the phone ringing had been jarring - Kakashi didn’t get many calls anymore. Dread had filled him immediately.

“Excuse me,” He flags down a harried looking nurse, who gives him an exasperated face but stops regardless, holding a pile of bedclothes. “There was an accident, my aunt and uncle, their son-”

“Emergency room,” The nurse interrupts, “Down this hallway, to the right, you can’t miss the sign.”

“Thank you,” Kakashi breathes, but she’s gone already. 

He rushes down the hallway, finds that the nurse was right, and pushes open the doors. The desk clerk regards him for a moment as he doggedly explains his relation to Minato and Kushina, then begs to see them.

“I’m their only living relative in the state,” He pleads. “Naruto - he must be scared -  _ please _ .”

The desk clerk shakes her head. “I’m sorry, you aren’t on the family sheet - only your father is. I can’t allow you back there, you’ll have to wait.”

Kakashi ignores the tearing in his heart - the hole he’s so carefully sutured with steel thread, ripping open - at the word “father.” Beneath that feeling is a horribly familiar emptiness, the kind that came after Rin and Obito, healed, then returned with the loss of his father.  He’d thought, maybe, that Kushina, Minato, and Naruto could help heal it again - he’d thought that he could push it away if only he visited them enough. Now… he forces himself not to think about yet another loss. He’s fairly sure it’ll rip him in half if he does.

“Fine,” He snaps, then takes a seat in the middle of the room, which is empty but for a few families, none of them visibly shaken or upset. Kakashi can feel aching anger flare, and ignores it.

Hours pass, but the definite sunken feeling of his heart tells Kakashi what he already knows before a nurse comes out, a remorseful look on her face. He schools his expression into a cool, expressionless mask. Inside his chest, the hole gapes, aches. A chill spreads over his body, sending tingling into his numb fingertips.

“I’m sorry-” She starts, but Kakashi holds up a hand. 

“Naruto,” He says flatly, his mind tripping over the idea of his young cousin being gone. He’s sure he’d know - he would be able to feel Naruto’s absence, if he were dead.

“Naruto is in intensive care, critical but stable,” The nurse replies, hugging a clipboard to her chest. Kakashi’s heart ratchets up 50 beats per minute, and he steps closer on instinct. The nurse takes a step back.

“I have to see him, please,” He begs, “I’m his last living relative, I have a  _ right.  _ I don’t want to make a scene but I will if I have to.”

The nurse seems to take pity on him, despite his baseless claim. She gestures for him to follow her down the long, sterile hallway. His heart rate doesn’t slow down, and a thousand grotesque imagines flash through his mind - the truck had been  _ wrapped around  _ a tree, the officer had said when he called. Kakashi isn’t sure he’ll recognize the boy when he walks in, not sure Naruto will ever look the same as he did before. He’s glad Minato and Kushina had ID, because he certainly wouldn’t have been able to identify their corpses.

_ Corpses,  _ Jesus Christ, his aunt and uncle are  _ dead _ , he’ll never go to their house when the loneliness is crushing his heart so badly that not even letting all the dogs sleep in his bed helps. Kushina, his lively, stubborn aunt. Minato, his understanding, soft uncle. Brief flashes from the morgue, of his father’s still body, flicker behind his eyelids, and Kakashi can feel panic closing like a vice around his lungs. He’s going to need a hospital room, he thinks to himself, but then the nurse opens the door to a room and every thought flies out of his head, the panic stopped dead in its tracks.

Naruto is painfully small in the center of the adult sized hospital bed. His mop of blonde hair is subdued under the bandages wrapped around his head - tinged pink. More wires and tubes than Kakashi has ever seen before are connected to the small boy, but Kakashi breathes a desperate sigh of relief when he sees Naruto’s chest rise and fall minutely. 

“I’ll leave you for a few minutes, but you’ll have to leave soon. He’s not supposed to have visitors, he’s a ward of the state and will have to remain so until the social worker from the neighboring town can come in and settle things,” The nurse says quietly. Kakashi doesn’t reply, only stares brokenly. The nurse leaves, Kakashi only faintly registering the door clicking shut behind her. 

“Naruto,” Kakashi feels himself whisper, grief stricken. He inches closer, afraid to wake the boy, though he’s fairly sure a train horn couldn’t do that right now.  

When he’s close enough, he takes one of Naruto’s small, chubby hands in his. He can see Naruto’s face, despite the multitude of wires, one eye bruised shut and a busted lip. With each passing year he’d come to resemble a more and more accurate amalgamation of his parents, Kushina’s lively face and Minato’s thick head of hair. Kakashi isn’t sure when the tears start coming, but he’s surprised when they begin to drip onto his and Naruto’s joined hands. 

He hadn’t cried when he’d been called the the police station to identify Rin and Obito. Hadn’t cried when his father had died. Hadn’t even cried at his father’s funeral. This, though. Somehow, this ripped something open in Kakashi that he hadn’t even been aware of. Death, loss, Kakashi was used to that. He’d been cursed to lose everyone he loved. He’d accepted at this point - the loss of Minato and Kushina, his last saviors, had only assured him of that. He couldn’t accept that Naruto would feel the same one day. 

Naruto had been born into a perfect nuclear family, a family Kakashi knew would have nurtured him to be so much more than their small town, and he’d been robbed of it. Bouncing, sunny Naruto whom Kakashi had known since he was born - always smiling, always ready to bestow Kakashi with a wet kiss on the cheek and yell bye after Kakashi had come over for dinner, hopping from adult to adult and preening under their attention. 

Naruto, who deserved a better life and better family than what the system could offer him. 

Kakashi sniffed roughly, scrubbed his face clear, and made a decision. 


	2. Articulation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adoption. He’s adopting a child. A real, living human being that he’ll have to care for. He hasn’t even been taking care of himself for the past 4 years, let alone a tiny child who needs him to live.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warning for hospitals, again (should be the last one, knock on wood) 
> 
> thank you so much for all the support of the first chapter! from here on out, they should all be relatively longer. that said, i'm not a long chapter writer, so updates should be relatively fast but chapters not as long as you find with a lot of fic! 
> 
> anyway heres more kakashi-having-no-idea-what-hes-doing. get used to it!

The social worker is more than happy to relinquish custody of Naruto to Kakashi, if only to avoid the metric shit ton of paperwork and effort that comes with inserting a child into the system. Kakashi might be miffed, if it didn’t mean that Naruto would be able to wake up and heal under the care of someone who’s known him since he was born.

“Well, you’re his only living relative and I’m fairly sure in a town this small, no one is going to throw a fit about the slight… disregard of the rules that generally surround this kind of thing,” She says primly to Kakashi, both of them sitting on the horribly uncomfortable hospital chairs just outside of Naruto’s room. “It should be easy! Just a bit of paperwork.”

“He’s five,” Kakashi says, “Whether people wanted to throw a fit or not, I wouldn’t care.”

The woman nods, her fingers fidgeting with the folder she had brought along. Kakashi feels… impatient. For him, this was never a question or a process. He knows it’s irrational, but he’s made his decision, and Naruto is as good as his, now. He’s been sleeping in the chairs at the hospital for a week, unable to leave when he knows Naruto could wake up at any minute. His neighbor, Yamato, has been feeding the dogs in his absence. While the woman begins to talk about forms and liability and house checks, Kakashi begins cataloguing. 

_ I’ll have to do some  _ real  _ grocery shopping,  _ he thinks, imagining his pantry full of noodles and quick meals,  _ Naruto isn’t stupid, but I’ll probably have to toddler proof some of the house, if he’s even remotely more precocious than when he was a baby. Should I buy parenting books? … I should buy parenting books. Oh, god, I’ll have to clean out the extra bedroom to make room for his stuff. _

“...as far as medical care and support, are you employed?” The woman asks, as though she isn’t looking at someone the same age as her, with a mortgage and life insurance. Kakashi slides both eyes over to her, though her image is cut off as only his right eye can see, and she’s on his left. 

“No, I get by on my charming good looks,” Kakashi deadpans. It’s only after she makes an affronted face that Kakashi remembers he’s supposed to be making a good impression. “Ha. Just, uh - just kidding. Yeah, I’m employed. I work IT in the evenings and sometimes overnights.”

“Okay,” She laughs, but Kakashi can hear the note of discomfort in it. “Well that’s good! With time your schedule may need rearranging, Naruto will have to start school this August, and you’ll want to be home while he’s sleeping. Many parents work nine to five, while their kids are at school.”

_ Parents, _ Kakashi thinks,  _ I’m not a parent, I’m his cousin. But… I guess, technically that’s about to change.  _

“Right,” He says. “That can be arranged.”

Kakashi hadn’t given a second thought to all of the changes he’d have to make, and it begins to dawn on him how large this decision he’s making is. Adoption. He’s adopting a  _ child _ . A real, living human being that he’ll have to care for. He hasn’t even been taking care of himself for the past 4 years, let alone a tiny child who needs him to  _ live.  _ This is a lifetime commitment, but it’s one Kakashi feels has to be worth it. It’s Naruto. 

_ I’ve taken care of 8 dogs for 2 years, I’m sure I can handle one Naruto, _ Kakashi thinks, with only mildly traumatizing flashbacks to the few times he babysat for the Uzumaki’s. Then, his fingers itch for a pen, to list all the things he’ll need to alter - starting with the overnight job.

“Well, for now he’ll be staying in the hospital, of course,” The worker goes on, proffering the folder. Kakashi accepts it, not surprised to find that it feels as thick as one of his many books. He sets it gingerly in his lap. “So I’ll just need you to fill out this paperwork, and I’ll be around tomorrow to do a house check and pick it up, since we’re on a timetable here.”

Kakashi nods and she stands and offers a well manicured hand. He shakes it numbly, and she exits down the hallway, heels clicking with every step. 

 

~

 

The house check goes well, as Kakashi hardly does anything but work and read and the small two bedroom is spotless, but for the plethora of dog fur. And the fact that what will be Naruto’s room is covered wall to wall in unorganized books and junk.

“It’s a good thing he’s not allergic to dogs!” The social worker jokes as they stand in his one-butt kitchen. Kakashi forces a chuckle that sounds wooden to his own ears. She clears her throat awkwardly and pats the top of the paperwork gently. “I’ll get this checked and filed, and call if there are any issues. As far as you and I are concerned, you’re now Naruto’s legal guardian. If the needed changes aren’t made within a month, you know - the night job, the school enrollments, the…” 

She glances at his pantry, which is partially open. Inside, instant noodles and canned food predominates. Kakashi might be embarrassed, if he cared more about what other adults thought of his diet. “Well, we’ll come do another check, anyway, and if something isn’t up to par, we’ll let you know so you can change it.”

“Right,” Kakashi says, “Well, thank you.”

The woman nods and sees herself out. Kakashi sinks to his kitchen floor, entirely sure that he isn’t ready for what he’s just gotten himself into. Bull lumbers over, intuitive as always, and collapses next to Kakashi in a huff, offering the warmth of his giant body. Kakashi tilts sideways until he’s leaning against the hulking dog, and takes deep breaths. 

 

~

 

Naruto wakes up, and heals. Partially. He’s left with some permanent scarring, jagged lines on each cheek from the windshield glass, but he’s otherwise the same Naruto, Kakashi is thankful. It’s something akin to relief to see the comforting combination of his aunt and uncle’s faces live on. 

Kakashi can barely stand to be in the room when Naruto is coherent enough to ask where Minato and Kushina are. Kakashi doesn’t make the reveal - a medically trained doctor does, two weeks after Naruto wakes up, so that if Naruto has a breakdown, there’s someone there who can handle it, and he doesn’t hurt himself again so quickly after recovering. Kakashi stands by the window, hands fisted in his pockets so hard that he can feels his palms slick with blood. 

Naruto screams. He doesn’t fully understand - he’s five, after all, this isn’t a concept that most five year olds are confronted with - the doctor gives him an explanation that Kakashi hates, “your parents have gone somewhere else, and you won’t see them ever again,” it’s ridiculous - he’s five, not an idiot. Kakashi resolves to explain to him the truth of it as gently as he can.

He cries - so hard that it wears him back out and he falls asleep again, for hours on end. Kakashi stands by the window the entire time, eyes trained on Naruto’s tear stained face. He knows - he’s sure there is no way he can measure up to Minato and Kushina. They had had a natural knack for parenting, infinite patience, childlike humor, more love in their hearts than Kakashi had ever seen before. So much, in fact, that they had spread it to him, and yet - love doesn’t cheat death. (The fact that Naruto is alive tests Kakashi’s belief of that, though.)

The doctor tells Kakashi that Naruto will need therapy - suggests biweekly sessions. Kakashi hates the idea, knows that if he were recommended a therapist he’d walk out on whoever suggested it, but Naruto is five, he’s lost his parents, and though the concept of death is slightly out of reach from his chubby hands, the loss is still there. Naruto can’t get through it on his own, and Kakashi knows that  _ he  _ certainly isn’t the one who should be helping Naruto with that, given his own history with dead parents. He allows the doctor to tell him some possible time slots, then picks one in the late evening, so he has time to feed Naruto after getting off of work and then head over.

“You have to understand,” the doctor tells him, standing outside Naruto’s door. Through the slatted blinds, Kakashi watches Naruto ignore the coloring book in front of him - staring out through the window to the courtyard beyond instead. “It’s not going to be easy for him. He’s only five, but he’s old enough to have made memories of his parents, and this is a huge change. The only positive you’ve got is that he knows you - he’s familiar with you, too - but it won’t be easy. Use his trust for you as an advantage.”

“An  _ advantage,”  _ Kakashi spits, rage boiling in his stomach, suddenly, “An advantage for  _ what _ , he’s five and he’s just lost both of his parents and woken up in a hospital. Why would I need to take advantage of a fucking  _ toddler. _ ”

The doctor lifts both hands in a gesture of surrender. “I just meant that… his relationships with other people are going to take work. Forging bonds will be a struggle for him, after losing people so important. You have the advantage of a bond already, and you should ensure that you use it to nurture his growth and healing.”

Kakashi stares at the doctor, attempting to keep his lips from curling and likely failing. Something the woman has said has hit something sensitive - something too close to home, but Kakashi won’t acknowledge that. He’s good at ignoring the things his brain points out apply to him a little too closely, and the subject of his inability to form meaningful bonds with people isn’t the subject at hand - Naruto is. 

“You’re - I don - you don’t know Naruto at all, and if you think I’d ever use our relationship as cousins as a way to - to trick him into whatever you think being  _ normal _ is, you can fuck off,” Kakashi can feel the alarm section of his brain screaming frantically, knows that he needs to stop talking immediately, but can’t force his mouth to shut, “He’s five years old. He’s going to be sad and I’m going to let him - and I’m not going to force him to make  _ friends _ as though that will fix anything. His relationships will be just fine, because he’s Naruto, and he - I  _ know _ him and I know that the second he’s out of this hospital he’ll be the same sunny kid I’ve always known because I  _ won’t fuck him up.” _

The doctor purses her lips and looks down the hallway impassively. Both adults stand silently for much too long, considering the message Kakashi was attempting to get across, not one of anger at the doctor - one of fear in his own abilities. Kakashi doesn’t know - he can’t know if he’ll raise Naruto well, but he’ll try his hardest, and he certainly won’t pretend that Minato and Kushina never existed - like he can just replace them and fix Naruto, as though he’s a broken wind up toy who needs a new key. Naruto will grow up knowing that his parents were the greatest people Kakashi had ever met, that missing them and being angry about it is natural and healthy, and most importantly, that Kakashi will always be there to help him, when it hurts, and when he feels alone.

He won’t raise Naruto to be like himself - stunted, broken, lonely. He refuses. He’s a fuckup, but he won’t fuck up Naruto, if it’s the only good thing he can do before he dies. 

“I would recommend, Mr. Hatake,” The doctor says at length, not unkindly. “That you attend the biweekly sessions with Naruto. You could learn a thing or two.”

Kakashi turns and enters Naruto’s hospital room without replying, and yanks the blinds shut. 

“Hey ‘Kashi,” Naruto says, smiling brightly up at him as he walks over to take a seat. Kakashi feels the rage in the pit of his stomach subside at the sight of Naruto’s smile, a rare sighting these days. “I missed you!”

“I was gone for thirty minutes, bud,” Kakashi replies, “what did you color?”

Naruto looks down at the coloring book scornfully. “Nothing! This coloring book is stupid, it doesn’t have any good pictures! I wanna watch cartoons, but they won’t let me.” 

“I’m pretty sure you watched three hours of Spongebob this morning, kiddo, these doctors aren’t legally allowed to let your brain turn to mush” Kakashi says, investigating the coloring book. The problem must be that there aren’t any superheroes in it, a crime against humanity for Naruto. 

“Yeah?!” Naruto gives him an imploring look, lower lip jutting out. “Better than coloring… I’m bored, ‘Kashi, and my head hurts. I don’t want to be here anymore! I just want to go home!”

Kakashi folds the coloring book in half and sets it aside. Naruto’s eyes have welled up with tears, which brim and spill over quickly. Kakashi does what comes naturally, which is to force his way onto the bed with Naruto as gently as possible and gently pretend to smother Naruto with his own pillow, minding the few wires still attached to Naruto, monitoring him. Naruto is reduced to watery laughter quickly, and Kakashi tucks the pillow back behind his tiny shoulders, settling in next to him. He reaches for the remote and turns cartoons back on, and Naruto cheers. 

“Don’t tell the doctors I put on more cartoons, or they’ll arrest  _ me _ for trying to turn your brain to mush,” Kakashi whispers. Naruto nods solemnly, his mouth arranged into a small, surprised ‘o’. “If I go to jail you’ll never watch cartoons again.”

Naruto leans into Kakashi’s side and trains his eyes on the show. 

Kakashi, while relieved that today’s crying fit has been averted, feels nervous at his core for the future. Naruto is only five - there’s bound to be at least a thousand more emotional days, and Kakashi is pretty sure he hasn’t felt a vivid emotion in at least 4 years - he’s not sure he’s designed to deal with sadness in any other way than avoidance and humor. What happens when fake smothering Naruto isn’t enough anymore? What happens when it involves talking it out?

_ One step at a time, _ his brain offers, and Kakashi is surprised that the advice is… positive, for once. 

Naruto falls asleep and drools all over Kakashi’s shirt. Kakashi resigns himself to sleeping sitting up in Naruto’s hospital bed, and wonders if falling asleep to the sound of Spongebob is the rest of his life now.

  
  



	3. Babbler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The situation is so familiar to him - a loud, sunny Uzumaki leading him around his own house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow big sorry for the GIANT wait for this chapter... im sure we all know how writers block is? 
> 
> gigantic thank you to all of the love you've been leaving on the chapters, you have no idea how much it means to me! hope you enjoy!

Naruto is released from the hospital when he’s fully stable, the only indication that anything happened to him at all being the new scars on his face. Kakashi can barely swallow the nervous feeling choking him up as he loads Naruto into the car seat he bought over the weekend, hands shaking as he clicks the seat belt into place. A hundred thousand images of  _ another  _ car accident flash through his mind, and it takes him 4 tries to buckle Naruto in, thin fingers shaking.

Naruto babbles away about legos and seeing Kakashi’s house for the first time and the dogs, although he’s not aware of the fact that there are eight of them, because he’s only ever met Pakkun and Bull. Kakashi is looking forward to the potent glee that Naruto will feel while being trampled by a herd of domesticated dogs, and the even  _ more  _ potent glee his eight dogs will feel upon meeting a new, loud, tiny human being.

He grips the steering wheel with white knuckles all the way to his house, humming and hawing at Naruto’s story about the hospitals pudding (“It looked like POOP! I poured it out!”). Kakashi doesn’t question his reasoning. It’s more entertaining not to. Naruto’s loud, exuberant voice distracts him from the near-ringing in his ears, the paranoia creeping up his spine as they round each corner, as a steady line of cars pass him on his left. He stays in the slow lane on the highway, going 5 under. 

He’s pretty sure he’s never felt more relaxed than he does when he turns into the driveway and turns the car off, the horrid weight lifting off of his chest and restoring his ability to breathe. Public transport sounds a lot more appealing than it did a few days ago, suddenly.

The dogs are a writhing mass of wagging tails and wet tongues when Kakashi unlocks the front door - Naruto is buried almost immediately, giggling at top volume and patting their faces patiently one by one, the kind of endearing scene that you see people share on Facebook all the time. Kakashi only barely suppresses the urge to get out his phone and record.

He lets loose a quick, loud, whistle and the dogs disperse, but maintain a 5 foot radius around Naruto, whose beam brings a spear of joy to Kakashi’s heart. He feels immediately out of his depth, seeing Naruto in his, well,  _ their  _ home - his interactions with Naruto as an infant had been limited to the confines of the Uzumaki house. Kakashi doesn’t interact with toddlers on a daily basis, he fixes computers and maintains company files and services in an office, alone. It’s what he enjoys, or at least… tolerates. He even generally scrolls past pictures of babies pretty quickly, mostly out of disinterest.

Naruto finds Pakkun in the crowd and picks him up around the middle. “I missed you Pakky! You’re so fat! ‘Kashi, why did you make him fat? Stop feeding him so much.” 

Kakashi chuckles at the look of patient exasperation on Pakkuns face, and crouches next to Naruto. “Pakkun doesn’t like to be held, buddy, but I’m sure if you put him down now he’ll cuddle with you later. Also, he’s old and likes to eat. It’s not my fault.” 

Naruto sets Pakkun down softly, then touches his ears. “Sorry Pakkun.”

Giving Pakkun a scratch behind the ears to make up for the intrusion, Kakashi points to the couch. Pakkun huffs and makes himself comfortable on one of the many cushions with a dog-shaped dent in it, paws crossed over one another. 

“Let’s get your stuff to your room, kiddo,” Kakashi stands from his crouch, handing Naruto his Cars backpack and grabbing the two duffels that the social worker had filled with Naruto’s belongings. He tries not to think about the entire houseful of belongings Kushina and Minato had left behind, the loss of the love infused with every knick knack on their shelves. 

Naruto’s smile loses its brightness, and he trails behind Kakashi as Kakashi leads the way to what used to be his junk room. Now, it’s clean, the towers of books replaced with a twin bed, a dresser, an entertainment stand with an old TV from Kakashi’s garage, and the papasan chair that had been in the living room, usually unoccupied. Naruto’s old toy-box had also made its way in, fit to burst with hot wheels, army men, and some barbie dolls with mohawks - a few of the toys gifts Kakashi remembers giving during the holidays.

Kakashi set the duffels on the bed, made up with Naruto’s old bed sheets and comforter, a dark blue pattern with neon green dinosaurs printed in repeating patterns. It’s hideous, and  _ very  _ Naruto. Kakashi is fairly sure he had something just as gaudy as a child, racecars or something else equally bad.

“This is my room?” Naruto says, so quietly it’s nearly a whisper. Kakashi’s hand pauses on the zipper of the first duffel, his eyes raising to examine Naruto, who is standing hesitantly in the doorway, backpack on the ground next to him, one small hand on the door jamb.

“Yeah, bud. I cleaned out all my old man books, so there’s room for your toys,” Kakashi replies gently, offering a small, crooked smile. Naruto remains solemn, big blue eyes wide. “I didn’t know if you wanted to paint it a cool color, so I waited until you got here, so we can do it together.”

Naruto ponders the room without speaking for so long that Kakashi returns to unpacking his duffel bags, unsure of whether it might be better to stop and try to convince Naruto to come in. His experience with babysitting Naruto tells him that forcing Naruto to do anything will only bring out his stubborn side. He decides to let it slide and give Naruto space, as is usually the best method.

Inside the duffels are all of Naruto’s clothes, which Kakashi assumes should be sorted for easy access in Naruto’s dresser. His own closet resembles a bomb shelter full of clothes, but if he’s going to be helping Naruto dress for school he might as well make it easy on himself, and on Naruto. He begins to sort through them categorically. 

_ I should probably start practicing healthy habits, too, _ he thinks to himself, wondering exactly how long it would take to make his closet accessible again. A hundred years, probably. He wears slacks and a button up to work every day, and laundry was only ever something he did when Kushina stopped by to drop off leftovers and give him the stink eye at his mess of a house.

His heart aches at the thought of Kushina, stubborn frown set as she observed him slinging his dirty clothes into a laundry basket and lugged it over to the washer. She wouldn’t leave until she was able to help him fold all the laundry, sitting on the couch and watching reruns of The Office with him, obnoxious laugh startling the dogs every time she heard a joke. The whole house would light up on those days, even if it had been overcast outside. Something about Kushina had brought the sunlight with her - warming everything in her path.

He feels like a hot coal has settled in his throat, suddenly.

Kakashi is brought back to the present when Naruto finally shuffles into the room, dragging his bag with him. “All my  _ stuffs _ in here.”

“Yeah, we brought it over so you wouldn’t miss any of it. And I brought in that TV from my garage so you can watch cartoons,” Kakashi explains, watching Naruto place his backpack with utmost care next to the toybox. 

“And mommy and daddy’s stuff?” Naruto asks, stopping Kakashi short - one hand knocks over a precarious stack of t-shirts, unfolding them all.

Kakashi isn’t sure what to say to that - even  _ he _ knows it’s unfair that Minato and Kushina’s stuff was sold in an estate sale, the house taken by the bank - if he’d had the room, or maybe the money for storage, he’d have happily packed away every single thing in the house for Naruto to have when he grew up, to keep the imprint that Minato and Kushina had made on every miniscule item. It just hadn’t been an option - his two bedroom lacked the room. He doesn’t want to lie to Naruto - much of the Uzumaki belongings are gone - but suddenly his original idea of brutal honesty for Naruto seems… ill advised. 

He decides sugar coating it can’t hurt, after all.

“Well, because I -” Kakashi’s tongue trips over the word “adopted,” such a foreign, disconnected word for he and Naruto, “Because I’m taking care of you now, and since your mom and dad won’t be using the stuff anymore, the state got rid of a lot of it. Especially the stuff I have already, like a couch, and food, and shelves.”

Naruto doesn’t reply, staring pensively at the ground instead. The look of concentration on his face is enough to make Kakashi wish that children knew how to talk like adults - though, Kakashi isn’t good at talking to adults regardless, so he supposes that wouldn’t help much. 

He sets to rearranging the shirts he’d ruined, occasionally looking up to check on Naruto. It’s silent for a long while, only the sound of Naruto opening his toy box and regarding his toys interrupting. Eventually, Naruto climbs onto the bed and sits cross-legged, staring at Kakashi. Kakashi stares back for a few seconds, ignoring the pang of sadness that comes with looking at Naruto’s chubby cheeks, marred with scars that would irrevocably be tied to his parents deaths.

“What’s up, dude,” Kakashi says, shaking himself slightly. He places Naruto’s organized clothes into their respective drawers; settles his hands on his hips when he’s finished, raising his eyebrows at Naruto. 

“I’m hungry,” Naruto says, sticking his lower lip out in a pout. Kakashi feels desperate relief that its hunger and not a meltdown of catastrophic size, as Naruto seems to have forgotten that his whole life has been uprooted, metamorphosed, and dropped into the hands of a man who’s lived his life on autopilot for years. The only way they’d calmed him down in the hospital had been with sedatives, and Kakashi does not have any of those. “Can I have a snack?”

He checks his watch and finds that it’s only four - he’s forgotten the general time that most people have dinner. Before his dad had passed, Kakashi had made dinner whenever he came home from being out with Rin and Obito - any time from 3 pm to 3 am, generally a microwave meal from the freezer. Sakumo had never cooked. Kakashi isn’t even sure he could manage to cook from a recipe.

Deciding that 6 pm will be their dinner time, and that giving Naruto a small snack now to hold him over until Kakashi figures out how to use his oven and cook, he shrugs. He’ll figure out the oven if it’s the last thing he does (and it very well may be, as he hasn’t changed the batteries on his smoke detector in years). 

“Sure, do you wanna go see what snacks we have?” He asks. Naruto ecstatically jumps up and grabs Kakashi’s hand, leading him out of the room. 

Kakashi feels something vaguely familiar swell in his chest as he stoops over so that Naruto can hold his hand, watching Naruto’s too-long hair (he’s going to need a haircut before school starts, right? Kakashi has no idea.) bounce as he walks, looking around for Kakashi’s kitchen and then leading them both that way. The situation is  _ so  _ familiar to him - a loud, sunny Uzumaki leading him around his own house. Kakashi thinks he can feel the same infectious warmth - Uzumaki warmth - warming up the dreary walls of his house. 

Kakashi can acknowledge that he’s in way over his head, but the feeling isn’t  _ bad _ . He’s sure he’s going to fuck it up - he fucks everything up, but something won’t let him give up - something about Naruto. Kakashi can’t let warmth so unique be dulled, be wasted when it has so much potential. He makes a mental note to google what it means to feel like you’d turn the whole world on its axis for someone. (At 3 AM, Google tells him the word is  _ paternal. _ He stares at his laptop screen for an hour, blankly.) 

After touching every box in Kakashi’s newly stocked pantry, Naruto decides on a bowl of goldfish crackers, and Kakashi sets him up in the living room, between Bisuke and Akino, both of whom have an aversion to human food and ignore Naruto’s snacks entirely. He turns on a kids channel, hopes that the show is mildly educational, and turns to confront his kitchen for the first time in years.

 

~

 

It’s disastrous. 

He  _ does _ figure out the dials on his stove, a fact of which he’s very proud. It only takes him 5 minutes to realize he’s put the pot on the wrong burner, an easy fix. Thank god for the diagrams near the dials, or he’d have been there all night. He ignores Pakkun’s intelligent face, peering at him from the doorway of the kitchen, an all-too-judgmental stare for Kakashi’s liking. 

“ _ You  _ try it, you stinkin’ pug,” He mutters, turning his back while Pakkun huffs something that sounds suspiciously like a chuckle and leaves the kitchen. 

Boiling the macaroni noodles is fairly easy, even if he does overdo them. It’s the  _ mixing  _ that gets him, even following the instructions on the box doesn’t help - there are cheese globs everywhere, milk spilled on the stove and stinking from the heat, and he’s pretty sure the measurement for butter is way too low because the noodles are all  _ sticky,  _ there must have been some kind of typo. He mixes desperately and wipes his hair out of his face with the crook of his elbow every five seconds.

Eventually, when his arm is tired from stirring and there are still great gooey globs of powder cheese from the packet swimming around in the noodles, Kakashi gives in and plates it for the two of them. He’s not hungry, yet, his body still hasn’t adjusted to normal meal times (or more than one meal a day), but he’s been making himself eat three square, if not small, meals a day, so he can set a good example for Naruto. He’ll be damned if he won’t at least fake being a normal person, for Naruto’s sake.

“Naruto, buddy, time for dinner,” he calls, and Naruto skids around the corner of the kitchen at top speed, blonde hair flying, colliding with Kakashi’s knees and falling on his butt, then collapsing into giggles. Kakashi pokes him with socked toes. “Okay, I promise I’m not gonna feed your food to the dogs if you don’t Usain Bolt in here every time I call for dinner, dude. They have dog food specially formulated to not make them shit all over my floor, which is what they would do if I gave them cheese.” 

Naruto gets to his feet and makes grabby hands for his macaroni, disregarding Kakashi’s monologue completely. Kakashi sets his bowl on the table and sits next to him, only to quickly start hovering as Naruto picks up his silverware and begins shoveling food into his mouth. Something about seeing Naruto near a glass bowl of macaroni gives Kakashi the strong urge to go buy plastic dishes. He spends all of dinner time staring at Naruto, who does not seem to mind his poorly made macaroni and cheese, based on the way he’s hoovering it out of existence. At least a third of it ends up in his lap, and Kakashi resigns himself to the fact that he’ll be doing a  _ lot  _ more laundry than usual.

_ He’s  _ five, Kakashi’s brain says,  _ You’ll have to become a better cook before he learns what his taste buds are. He probably has no idea who Usain Bolt is, either. Save your good material for after he hits puberty.  _

Kakashi nearly knocks his bowl off of the table at the thought of puberty. 


	4. Winging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He eyes the coffee pot and wonders how many cups of coffee a day is too many.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im.. BACK. it's summertime, finally, and i hope to really get some of this work done instead of abandoning it for months at a time like before. oops!!! i'm sorry and i hope you enjoy this chapter!!! pester me if i dont update again soon, PLEASE.

“NO!” 

Kakashi stares at Naruto, who has planted one tiny foot and crossed his arms stubbornly. His face is set angrily, the definition of obstinance, and Kakashi is dejectedly holding a frog printed pajama shirt that had, apparently, been the clue in for Naruto. Bed time - or as Naruto must see it, World War three.

“Aren’t you tired, buddy?” Kakashi wheedles, shaking the shirt around as enticingly as he can, feeling slightly like a matador, “It was a long day, don’t you think?” Kakashi certainly thinks so. 

“No!” Naruto repeats, looking away from Kakashi at Shiba, who has appeared amidst the confrontation curiously. “I wanna  _ play _ .” 

Kakashi gives Shiba a stern look when the dog’s tail starts wagging, causing the dog to falter and huff. The last thing he needs is all of the dogs  _ and  _ Naruto in playtime mode. “Buddy, we played today. There’ll be time to play tomorrow, too. For now, though, you’ve gotta get some rest or you won’t even be able to play. Law of equal exchange and all that.” 

Naruto peers at him suspiciously, cautious and thoughtful, for all of 5 seconds before stomping his foot again. “No!”

Kakashi deflates. When babysitting for the Uzumaki’s, Kakashi had been all too happy to let Naruto stay up late, running around and wearing himself out until he face-planted on the couch next to Kakashi. Kushina had scolded him for it, Minato had told him in secret that he thought it was fine - the kid needed to be wild every once in a while or he’d explode. Of course, Kakashi was only babysitting once or twice a month at that point, and Kushina had a whole bedtime routine for Naruto that he’d never emulated - he could barely remember the steps at this point, but he attempts to recall them in the hope that maybe recreating the familiarity will help Naruto. 

Naruto wanders off with Shiba, clad in only his pajama pants, while Kakashi counts off on his fingers. 

_ Well, there was dinner, check. Bathtime, check. Comfy pajamas… half check. Cartoons? No, that’s not it…  _ He actually snaps his fingers when he remembers.  _ A bedtime story, of course. I’ll… I’ll improvise for tonight, and then I’ll have to go buy children’s books, I guess.  _ He’s more than aware that none of his reading material is suitable for a five year old.

In the living room, Naruto is attempting to drag Shiba around the room with the dogs’ tug of war string. Shiba is tactfully pushing himself around in an army crawl, giving the illusion that Naruto’s efforts aren’t in vain. Kakashi spends a brief moment of wondering if Shiba had been left at the pound by a family with young children, before Kakashi adopted him. Then, he remembers his mission and gets back on track.

“Hey, kiddo,” Kakashi says, stifling hysterical laughter at the suspicious side eye that Naruto sends him, so  _ Kushina _ -like he can barely handle it. “If you put this on I’ll tell you a bedtime story.”

Naruto’s suspicion disappears, replaced with a look of pure joy. Kakashi wishes he could be as happy about anything as Naruto is about being told a bedtime story, of all things. He misses being five, suddenly, though he can’t remember ever being read a bedtime story. 

“Really?!” Naruto bunny hops over to Kakashi, holding his arms straight up for Kakashi to slip the shirt over his head. 

“Oh yeah,” Kakashi nods, yanking the shirt down over Naruto’s head and tugging it down completely. “I’m the story  _ master _ ,” he lies. Naruto wraps his arms around Kakashi’s neck and Kakashi hefts, carrying him to his bedroom. He’s not sure how Minato handled constantly carrying this kid around. 

In Naruto’s room, Kakashi settles the kid on his bed. Naruto burrows under his covers, giggling quietly to himself like he’s just heard the funniest joke on the planet, probably out of pure excitement. Kakashi feels a little bad that he’s about to ruin the kid’s night with probably the worst improvised story on the planet. He settles himself, somewhat awkwardly, on the side of Naruto’s bed, and thinks quietly for a long moment, trying to remember stories from school or  _ something,  _ anything.

“‘Kashi?” Naruto says quietly, and Kakashi looks over to find Naruto looking at him thoughtfully. “I like the turtle and the bunny.” 

Kakashi is lost for a while, staring at Naruto blankly before he  _ realizes _ . “The tortoise and the hare? You wanna hear that one?” 

Naruto nods excitedly, and Kakashi stifles a sigh of relief. He knows that one - who doesn’t know that story? What really makes him feel like he just swallowed something very large is that he knows Naruto could tell he was lost - the kid had seen him scrambling and offered help, whether through some intrinsic ability or, more likely, because he saw the idiotic look on Kakashi’s face. 

_ My five year old might be smarter than me,  _ Kakashi thinks to himself,  _ they should make that a show. Are You Smarter Than Your 5 Year Old Adopted Son? _

He settles in closer to Naruto and tells him the story of the turtle and the bunny.  

 

~

 

It doesn’t take Naruto long to fall asleep, because he’d spent the whole day running circles around the house with the dogs, and also because he’s five years old and there's only so much room for energy in his body. Kakashi hopes that once school time rolls around, Naruto will come home with at least half his battery dead. He flicks Naruto’s light off, leaves the door open because Urushi had wandered in at some point, settled himself comfortably at the end of Naruto’s bed, and will need to get out eventually. The rest of the dogs have all settled down for the night, curled in tight balls in their dog beds. Kakashi lifts Pakkun from his spot on the couch and sits down, replacing the pug in his lap, instead. 

“Day one, complete. Only…” Kakashi does some poor math in his head, “Only like 5,000 more to go.” Pakkun snorts, and Kakashi turns the T.V. on to play some video games until he actually feels tired enough to go lay in bed and stare at his ceiling for a few hours. He is just as bad at Call of Duty as he remembers being, and before long his eyes are worn out from staring at the screen, so he crawls into bed with a book and hopes that eventually he’ll knock out. He has a hard time falling asleep naturally, and he’s not particularly fond of being alone with his thoughts. Added to the fact that he’s attempting to reverse his sleeping schedule completely, and that he adopted a living firecracker, Kakashi is fairly sure he’s never going to sleep again. 

After a few hours and half a book, Kakashi’s eyes and the hand holding his book droop and he drifts into fitful sleep, plagued by the sound of screeching metal.

 

~

 

He’s awake in an instant when light from the hallway filters into his room, a sliver that widens into a rectangle of light, nearly blinding him. He’s so used to the dog’s that he thinks little of it at first, nearly rolls back over, but then he notices the small, distinctly human shadow filling a fraction of the light. 

“Hey, Naruto,” Kakashi calls, voice gravelly with sleep. “What’s up bud?” 

He hears a wet sniffle and his heart sinks, realisation setting in. “Hey, hey, hey,” he says gently, rolling over and getting up to meet Naruto halfway across the room. The boy clings to his leg desperately, wet tears and sticky snot on his face, sobs wracking his whole body.

“Bad dream,” is all Naruto says, muffled in the fabric of Kakashi’s sweatpants.

“Come here, kiddo,” Kakashi says, hefting Naruto in his arms. “Let’s clean up your little face. Wanna talk about it?” 

Naruto shakes his head vigorously, so Kakashi takes him into the bathroom and wets a rag, carefully wiping off the dried drool and other assorted fluids. Somewhere in the recess of his mind that isn’t calculating the best ways to make Naruto feel better, he realizes how absolutely disgusting it is to wipe snot off of a toddler’s face. He also realizes how little he cares in the face of Naruto being upset. A quick look at his alarm clock tells him it’s about four in the morning. Sadly, no part of his body protests being up this late, which is not a very good sign for his sleeping schedule reversal plan. 

“Wanna sleep in my room tonight?” Kakashi offers, attempting to pat Naruto’s rats nest of a hair down and getting nowhere. Naruto sniffles and nods, curling into Kakashi’s chest when Kakashi picks him up. Kakashi tries to think about the ways his parents would make him feel better, the ways he’s seen people take care of crying toddlers in public. He rubs Naruto’s back and walks around in slow circles for a little while, gently rocking Naruto. He’s pretty sure this is a method for infants, but Naruto seems to relax in his arms. When he seems marginally less worked up and likely to drip snot in Kakashi’s bed, Kakashi crawls into bed and settles Naruto in next to him. 

“It’ll be alright, buddy. I promise it wasn’t real, even if it really did feel that way,” He says soothingly, patting Naruto’s back softly. Naruto sighs deeply, blinks big, sleepy eyes at Kakashi, and then lets them close. Kakashi thinks about how crazy it really is that people so tiny can exist. “I wouldn’t let anything hurt you, and neither would any of the dogs.” 

Naruto is such a space heater that Kakashi uncovers after about five minutes. He rubs Naruto’s back until his breathing evens out and the wet sniffling stops. Kakashi is fairly certain he can guess what Naruto had been dreaming about, and the doctor’s advice about making sure to take Naruto to a therapist regularly echoes through his head. Naruto’s initial appointment is later in the week, and though Kakashi is personally opposed to therapists for  _ himself _ , he really hopes that it does Naruto some good. His own experience with recurring nightmares is enough for him to know the kind of grief Naruto is going through, and he hates the thought of Naruto growing up haunted by the car crash and unable to grieve and grow from it properly.

It takes Kakashi a long while to fall asleep again, but eventually Naruto’s rhythmic breathing lulls him into a dreamless sleep. 

 

~

 

Naruto is, predictably, up at the butt crack of dawn. When he wakes up and begins the long trek off of Kakashi’s bed, jostling every one of Kakashi’s body parts, Kakashi groans and peers blearily over at his alarm clock, which takes a few seconds to come into focus.

“Seven A.M?,” He groans, “Jeez, kid, you really want me to keel over, huh?”

Naruto is too busy navigating the endless pillows in Kakashi’s bed, grunting quietly to himself as he slides, finally, off the end of the bed, and stares expectantly at Kakashi. Something about the bed head and pillow lines combined with such a serious expression cracks Kakashi up.  

“What.” Kakashi says, running both hands through the hair covering his eyes. All the family members, Naruto, Minato, and Kakashi had horrid bed head - and regular head, too. Messy hair was something Kakashi had long since accepted, and he dreaded trying to comb out Naruto’s hair. 

“It’s breakfast time!” Naruto exclaims, entirely too loud and energetic already. Kakashi scrubs dried drool off of his own cheek. 

He can’t even  _ think  _ of food this early in the morning, but a gigantic cup of coffee sounds good, so he slumps sideways out of bed. Naruto grabs his hand and pulls, impatience in every cell of his body, so Kakashi slows down even further and pretends to be a zombie, groaning and moaning, shuffling his feet so that they don't get very far from the bed.

Naruto huffs and whines, runs to Kakashi’s backside, flattening his hands on Kakashi’s thighs and pushing with all his tiny might. Kakashi stifles a laugh and resumes a normal pace.

“Alright, dude, I don’t feel like burning down the house trying to make you eggs so today we’re having cereal,” Kakashi tells Naruto, who has already run straight to the pantry and begun digging around the boxes. Kakashi has a fairly large cereal collection, because he is not a home cooked meal kind of guy, and cereal is easy. 

While Naruto picks his preferred cereal, Kakashi starts a desperately needed pot of coffee. He wonders how hard making eggs can  _ really  _ be, after all, scrambled eggs are just thrown in a pot and mushed around for a while. Surely he can manage that, right? Maybe on a full night’s sleep. Maybe. Instead, he pours milk in Naruto’s Lucky Charms and pours himself a giant mug of coffee, joining Naruto at the table to monitor while he eats. After this, Kakashi has to take the dogs for a walk, which will be an even more daunting challenge with the addition of one hyper energetic toddler in the mix. He eyes the coffee pot and wonders how many cups of coffee a day is  _ too _ many. 

While Naruto eats, Kakashi runs through a list of grown up things he needs to take care of: call the nearby school and get Naruto enrolled, look up the change to his taxes, talk to Yamato about babysitting, maybe-

Naruto moves just a little too quickly and knocks his whole bowl of cereal on the ground. Both he and Kakashi merely stare at it until the dogs come and eat the mess. Kakashi feels a knot forming in his shoulders. He pours Naruto a fresh bowl of cereal and decides to go buy plastic serveware sooner, rather than later. 


	5. Primary class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto mumbled sleepily, nuzzled further into Kakashi’s neck, and Kakashi felt a deep, permeating warmth spread from where Naruto’s tiny hands gripped his shirt straight into his heart.

Naruto’s first day of school goes… about as well as Kakashi expects.

Summer had sped by in a flash, day in and day out of waking up at the buttcrack of dawn and wrestling Naruto into bed slightly later than a recommended child’s bedtime every night. Kakashi had spent many a sleepless night putting things in order - enrolling Naruto in school was a nightmare of paperwork that he hadn’t seen coming, he’d invested in a few “cookbooks for dummies” and worked on some very,  _ very  _ basic recipes so that he wasn’t feeding Naruto mac and cheese every night, and he’d met with Yamato to discuss baby and dog-sitting. 

“I still can’t believe you have a kid, now,” Yamato had said, a coffee thermos held snugly between his hands. Kakashi nodded and watched Naruto fumble around on the playground, hooting and hollering to himself. He felt somewhat like he should have a more enlightened look on his face, but he could feel the tired, desperate one that was being presented, instead. “A spitfire one, at that. A shame about his parents. It’s really good of you to take him in like this.” 

Kakashi had felt bad that it was the first time he’d really hung out with Yamato. They’d spent a couple of years as neighbors, and Yamato was reliable in a pinch - Kakashi had asked for him to dogsit last minute many a time and Yamato always accepted with grace and a serene smile. If Kakashi noticed that his dog treat tin was severely depleted when he got back from his work trips, and that Pakkun had developed an even more prominent gut, he never said anything. 

All in all, he enjoyed Yamato’s presence. He’d woken up (early) and fed and dressed Naruto, and then walked next door to see if Yamato wanted to come to the park with them. Yamato accepted, perplexed but interested nonetheless, and asked for a moment to get his coffee fix. Kakashi rested a palm on Naruto’s face when the kid starting asking him for some coffee.  _ In your dreams, kid,  _ Kakashi had thought.  _ I’m barely hanging on as it is.  _

“Tell me about it,” Kakashi deadpanned, “The spitfire thing, I mean. I haven’t met or spent prolonged amounts of time with many kids, but I still feel like most don’t have  _ this  _ much energy.” 

They watched Naruto climb to the tallest part of the jungle gym and beat his chest like an angry monkey, then stop abruptly and stare blankly up at the slow-moving clouds. Yamato chuckled, “I’m sure he’s a lot of fun. You should get him into sports, help wear out some of that energy.”

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully, then coughed in what he hoped was a non-awkward way. “Speaking of kids,” He begins, “I flipped my work schedule around from the usual, you know… overnight shift, and work was really understanding about the ‘maternity leave’ I took while settling Naruto into the house, but now I have to be there every day, during the day, so that I can be home with Naruto at night. I arranged the hours so that I can take him to school in the mornings on the way to work, and most days I should be able to pick him up, but there might be days when I need some help.”

Yamato looked at him appraisingly and then shrugged, “I’ll do it.”

Kakashi stared back. “I haven’t even told you what I’ll need you to do.”

“Kakashi, do you know where I work?” Yamato asked, and Kakashi felt, well. Bad. He didn’t know where Yamato worked - he’d never even hung out with Yamato before this, let alone asked what he did for a living. Kakashi realizes that not long ago, he wouldn’t have cared all that much. He hadn’t exactly been in the market for lasting relationships, until - well. All the times they’d talked, Kakashi had come over with an overnight bag in hand, a wild look on his face, and Yamato had generally just accepted. 

Yamato was laughing again, then, his shoulders shaking with it, gruff and kind. “I’m a P.E. teacher at the school, Kakashi.” 

Kakashi couldn’t help the sigh of relief. “So it’s okay if I put you as an emergency contact with rights to take Naruto home?”

“Sure,” Yamato said, “Although, there may be days where he’s just stuck with me. Sometimes I have to pick up after the kids and find and clean the supplies for whatever we’ll be doing in class the next day. That okay?”

Kakashi had nodded, told Yamato to feel free to wear Naruto out all he wanted to, and that was that. He’d secured a way for Naruto to get home in the case that Kakashi’s work rolled over, though he planned to keep his days short as frequently as possible. They had watched Naruto run himself ragged in the playground, until he came over and slapped tiny hands on to each of Kakashi’s thighs and said, “I’m hungry!” The three of them walked back to their houses, Kakashi had thanked Yamato again, and Yamato had said it was no skin off his back. 

Kakashi, now watching Naruto throw a fit of absolutely epic proportions, wonders if that will still be the case. 

“Buddy,” He says, over the demonic wailing emanating from Naruto’s tiny body, “Dude. I promise I’m going to  _ come back _ after the school day is over. I’m not leaving you here forever.”

Naruto, who looks as though he hadn’t even considered that possibility, begins wailing even louder. Kakashi winces. Luckily, he is not the only guardian standing in the parking lot with a screaming kid, so he feels exponentially less bad. Sort of. This is something that  _ every _ parent goes through, right? He doesn’t need to beat himself up or feel bad about Naruto not wanting to go to school. Kakashi hadn’t particularly liked school, either. He rationalizes that this is one situation in which his ineptitude can be easily ignored.

He shares a look with a nearby mother, then plants his hands on Naruto’s shoulders. Naruto is so surprised by the contact that he hiccups and stops crying, staring at Kakashi with red rimmed eyes and a jutting lower lip. Kakashi wonders how long it will take him to build a resistance to puppy dog eyes. 

_ Never, _ he thinks to himself,  _ You still feed the dogs human food even though you  _ know  _ it’s bad for them.  _ He sighs.

“How about this, kiddo,” Kakashi offers, “I’ll sit outside the classroom for the first 15 minutes, and if you hate it  _ that _ much I can come in and smuggle you out. Sound good?” 

Naruto’s face is bright red, sopping wet with tears and snot, but he nods and starts scrubbing at all the nasties. Kakashi grabs his arm and holds it so he doesn’t ruin his clothes and rummages around in his car for some napkins. He holds one up to Naruto’s nose and says, “Blow,” and Naruto releases a torrent of snot into the napkin. Kakashi is beyond disgusted as he shoves the napkin into the little trash cubby in his car door, but at least Naruto isn’t covered in snot or saving any for later. 

“I’ll hold this for you,” He says, picking up Naruto’s tiny backpack and slinging it over one shoulder. Naruto reaches up and takes hold of his hand, fingers squeezing tightly, and they begin the trek to the classroom. 

Kakashi notes with satisfaction that he is the first parent to leave the parking lot with his screaming kid. It’s the little victories.

 

~

 

“This must be Naruto, huh?” Mr. Umino says jovially, watching Naruto hide behind Kakashi’s leg. “It’s good to meet you! We’re going to have a lot of fun, I promise.” 

Naruto just stares with the same baby blues he gave Kakashi in the parking lot, and Mr. Umino and Kakashi share a look that communicates something like “what can you do?” 

“It’s normal for the kids to be afraid, of course,” Mr. Umino explains, leveling Kakashi with a kindly smile. “It’s a big change! For the first week or so we just do fun activities, that way they’re easily distracted from any distress they may feel, and so that they can acclimate to one another. It also gives me a chance to get a feel for their personalities and learning styles. I promise, once I get some crayons in his hand and a juice box on the table, he’ll be fine.”

Kakashi nods and tries to convey a thankful expression, then kneels in front of Naruto and hands over his backpack. “You got this, dude.”

He tries not to feel the crack in his heart as Naruto looks at him like he’s leaving him at the shelter, then points at the door. “I’ll be right on the other side, okay? You come get me if you need me.” 

Naruto nods again, and Kakashi, possessed by a force unknown to him, leans forward and plants a kiss on Naruto’s messy head of hair, then ruffles the blonde locks. Naruto relinquishes the slightest smile, then follows Mr. Umino on unsteady feet to a cubby on the wall that says his name in bright orange letters. Kakashi watches for a minute as Mr. Umino shows Naruto how to hang his bag up on a hook, and a little bucket that holds his various supplies, then walks out of the classroom and finds a comfortable bench to sit on and call his boss, to let him know he’ll be about 15 minutes late. 

 

~

 

Thankfully, Naruto is ecstatic when Kakashi comes to pick him up. He runs to Kakashi, his new Mulan backpack weighing him down, and wraps Kakashi’s leg in a huge hug. The entire time Kakashi straps him into his carseat and gets into the car, he rattles off every detail of the day in great detail. Kakashi is beyond happy to hear nothing but excitement in Naruto’s voice, and also extremely relieved that getting him to school every day from now on will likely be less of a problem. 

“-and then we  _ colored! _ Mr. Umino has lots of books. I didn’t even have to color a  _ Frozen  _ colorin’ book!” He exclaims. In the rearview, Kakashi can see that Naruto has a look on his face, like, “can you believe it?!”

“That’s pretty cool, buddy,” Kakashi says for the 5th time in the last ten minutes. He’s glad Naruto enjoyed his first day, if not less than invested in the way the applesauce at snacktime tastes. “So you like Mr. Umino?” 

“He’s - hm,” Naruto goes quiet, prompting Kakashi to look in the rearview again. Naruto is pouting, little chunky arms crossed stubbornly. It’s the first time he’s looked unhappy since Kakashi picked him up. 

“What’s up, little dude?” Kakashi asks, “He was nice, wasn’t he?” The guy hadn’t looked like he could hurt a fly, let alone a precocious five year old. 

“He told me to use my inside voice,” Naruto mutters sullenly. “Inside voice.” He repeats, as though the very idea is repulsive. 

Kakashi purses his lips and changes lanes before saying anything. He hasn’t exactly been teaching Naruto to have an inside voice, mostly because he’s so used to how  _ loud  _ Kushina was, and Naruto - well, he’s five, Kakashi isn’t in the business of telling him to censor himself. Kids scream - or so Kakashi thought. He’s pretty sure that at least 75% of what children under 10 do is just scream for no reason all of the time. Asking Naruto to use an inside voice is something akin to asking a shark to stop swimming, or a - a wolf not to howl. Naruto is just loud, and that’s that. 

“Well, buddy, I know - I know it’s not a big deal at home, but in a class full of other kids, if you all talk loud, how will Mr. Umino be able to hear you all?” Kakashi asks, as they pull into the driveway. 

“I dunno,” Naruto mumbles again. Kakashi unbuckles and turns around to look at him. Naruto stares out the window stubbornly. 

Kakashi sighs. “We’ll work on it. I’m not gonna make you be quiet at home because it doesn’t bother me, but if you use your inside voice at school and Mr. Umino doesn’t tell me you’ve been yelling, I’ll-” Kakashi isn’t sure what he’ll do. Bribe him? He’s five, that should work. “I’ll let you have one ice cream night per week.” 

Naruto aims a suspicious eye at Kakashi, one all-too-wise for a five year old, and Kakashi feels suddenly like he is bartering with a tiny terrorist.  _ Really,  _ his brain offers,  _ that’s basically all you have to look forward to for the next thirteen years.  _

Naruto holds out one tiny hand to shake, and Kakashi has to stand outside of the car and allow himself to wheeze in laughter for a couple minutes before he gets Naruto out of his car seat. 

 

~

 

They’re camped out on the couch, watching - well - Kakashi isn’t sure what they’re watching. All of Naruto’s shows are the same random assortment of colors, animals, and noises that Kakashi can nigh tell apart even when he’s actually trying. Naruto is raptly paying attention, tucked into Kakashi’s side, and Kakashi feels himself drowse off slightly, only to immediately jerk awake at the realization that he’s  _ falling asleep.  _

_ At 8 P.M. on a Monday.  _

“Naruto, buddy, you tired?” Kakashi rasps, stretching his legs out as far as they’ll go. Naruto makes a noise, less than an affirmation, and Kakashi blinks owlishly. “I’m pretty tired, dude.” 

“Hm,” Naruto hums, as if he finds it interesting but not particularly compelling. He pats Pakkun gently on the head. 

“C’mon, lets get you in a bath and some jammies,” Kakashi says, more firmly, and is surprised when Naruto slides off the couch and shuffles off toward the bathroom. He’s not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. 

Naruto seems about as tired as Kakashi feels, but he manages to rattle off some more fun stuff that happened at school, in between Kakashi dumping water over his head to shampoo his hair. Naruto slaps the water just to watch it splash around the tub, and tells Kakashi about some of the kids he met, although he can’t remember their names very well, so he describes them by the feature that stood out to him the most, initially.

“And, and one boy has a  _ dog _ ,” Naruto says passionately, holding a rubber duck tightly between his hands, staring at Kakashi with awed eyes. “A  _ small _ one!”

“We’ve got eight dogs,” Kakashi says, slightly miffed, “Pakkun is small!”

“Pakkun is stinky,” Naruto says, then moves on to the next classmate he remembers, a dark haired boy who had apparently refused to share the toy cars with Naruto, another boy who’d put a beetle in Naruto’s hand and then cried when Naruto dropped it, and a girl who had forced him to play doctor even though he wanted to play superheroes. 

By the time Kakashi got Naruto out of the bath and into his frog pajamas, Naruto was all but asleep in his arms. “You know, kid, eventually you’ll be too heavy for this,” Kakashi grunted, as he lifted Naruto into his arms and carried him to his bedroom. Naruto mumbled sleepily, nuzzled further into Kakashi’s neck, and Kakashi felt a deep, permeating warmth spread from where Naruto’s tiny hands gripped his shirt straight into his heart. Uhei followed the two of them into Naruto’s room and settled himself after a few circles at the end of Naruto’s bed, and Kakashi tucked Naruto in tightly, flicking on his nightlight and standing near the doorway for a few moments. 

He’s glad Naruto’s first day of school went well, and deeper down, he knows that it’s because it’s one thing he’s done right, so far. Naruto had  _ liked  _ his first day, had enjoyed it, and Kakashi felt a deep, brimming pride - not only in Naruto for handling such a momentous thing in his life, but in himself for not screwing it up for the kid. He’d gotten through the summer with Naruto, letting the kid run out all of his energy, signed him up for one of the best schools in the area, and even managed to help him enjoy it. 

_ Also,  _ his brain offers,  _ you managed to successfully reverse your sleeping schedule. Go to bed you old fart.  _

Kakashi counts it as his first big victory - the good day at school, not the sleeping schedule, although that’s good too - walks back to Naruto’s bedside to give him a kiss on the forehead, smoothing Naruto’s slightly damp hair away from his forehead. Then he takes his tired ass to bed. At 8 P.M. on a Monday. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello update!!!! nice to see u again!!!!! shout out to ben my bibbidi bitch who beta'd this for me I WOULD DIE FOR U BEN
> 
> there will be some time skips in the story because no one wants to hear about every detail of kakashi and naruto's lives (right? tell me im right) but ill always recap things of importance, obviously
> 
> i hope you guys enjoy!!! writing this fic brings me a lot of joy and lets me explore kakashi as a character, which is fantastic because hes one of my most favorite characters. your guys' support and love for him and baby naruto gives me life. if you enjoy my writing and would like to tip/support me, buy me a coffee!!! my ko-fi is ko-fi.com/erikacoffey but your comments and love are more than enough!!! thank you again for reading!


	6. Lessee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He thinks about more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes hello im not dead!!! i really wanna personally thank everyone that is like. still here, despite the fact that i so rarely update. i love u guys. this is the last chapter before a bit of a time skip! not a huge one, though. :) it's also a little longer than usual, half because i was on a roll and half because it is a peace offering for never updating

Naruto is not a huge fan of the therapist. 

The man is nice enough, exactly what Kakashi expects of a therapist - unassuming, gentle voiced, polite. They go through the motions, and Kakashi encourages Naruto to be forthcoming - just because he hates the idea of therapy doesn’t mean he’s going to rob Naruto of a method of healing. Naruto sits in a giant chair in the therapist’s office, looking tiny, and Kakashi brings a book to read because it’s the same questions over and over. Naruto thinks it’s boring, a little weird, and not as fun as chasing the dogs around in circles in the backyard for 30 minutes. He’d told Kakashi so after their second or third session, and Kakashi had been inclined to agree. 

Sometimes, Kakashi feels the futility of the therapy - Naruto is five, and it seems the most complex emotion he can feel about losing his parents is a sort of distant sadness. He has very faint memories of Kushina and Minato, and while the concept of parents is fairly secure in his mind, the concept of his own is a bit fuzzy. The doctor probes him about how he feels when he sees other kids with both of their parents, and Kakashi ignores how much it stings, as though he isn’t sitting right there, Naruto’s primary caretaker and for all intents and purposes, his father. Naruto shrugs and points at Kakashi, as if to say “I’ve got one.” That always makes Kakashi feel better, a bit. 

Today, the therapist asks Naruto about his recurring nightmares while Naruto halfheartedly plays with the sanitized toys off of the shelf. 

“Naruto, have you figured out what’s happening in your dream, yet?” The doctor asks, and Kakashi places a finger between the pages of his book, stopping his reading to observe Naruto. Naruto has the nightmare at least twice a week, if not more, and Kakashi can’t normally parse any words out of Naruto’s horrified babbling, so he just holds Naruto close and forces some water into him, then stays up for hours after Naruto falls asleep, worrying, wondering, agonizing. He hasn’t figured out how to cope with his own nightmares, outside of just outright ignoring them, so trying to figure out what to do for Naruto is a struggle.

The kid clearly doesn’t want to talk about it, never seems to want to when asked. He shakes his head, walking a tyrannosaurus rex along the arm of his chair. 

Kakashi clears his throat, “He’s always pretty shaken up, after. It’s probably just a lot of loud noise and color. I get them, too. There’s not really… any substance, just noise.” 

Naruto looks over at the sound of Kakashi’s voice and nods, like everything Kakashi said resonates with him. “What ‘Kashi said.”  
The doctor didn’t look particularly happy with Kakashi giving Naruto a way to deflect, but then Naruto sighs and squeezes the dinosaur toy between his fingers until his knuckles turn white, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Like car crashes on t.v.,” He says, his eyebrows furrowed, “Loud.” And then he goes back to playing. Kakashi sees in the posture of his shoulders that Naruto is done for the day.

He hates that he knows exactly what Naruto means. The sound of grinding metal and tearing, deafening and over sensitizing all at the same time. He’s woken up almost every night for the last 5 or so years to the scraping, rasping noise of metal on metal. Then again, he’s never gone to therapy for any of the tragedies that have befallen him. Perhaps Naruto has a chance to escape the hell that Kakashi has trapped himself in. 

“Naruto, buddy, how about next time you have a nightmare, you and I talk about it?” Kakashi finds himself saying, the words seeming to come before he can even wrap his mind around their meaning. “At home, with the dogs, we can talk about what you saw, and I can try to help. I think we might have nightmares that are the same, bug.”

Naruto looks at Kakashi with wide, trusting blue eyes and performs a half shrug, half nod. The doctor purses his lips and crosses his fingers together, regarding Naruto and then turning his eyes to Kakashi. 

“I suppose we can discuss what you find during the next session,” The doctor says, and Kakashi swallows the impulse to tell the doctor to stop talking about Naruto like he’s a specimen to be studied - he tries to tell himself over and over that his aversion to therapists is outranked by Naruto’s health and wellness, but  _ god _ is it hard. Every doctor they’ve met is so clinical and cool, so distant in a way that he can’t reconcile with helping Naruto. Warm, bright Naruto, who is so talkative and loving normally, who turns into a stranger when they walk into the therapist’s office. 

“I’ll let you know what he tells me,” Kakashi says tightly, instead of releasing the cornucopia of insults and anger gathered in his brain. Naruto places the dinosaur gently back on the shelf and holds a small hand out for Kakashi to hold. 

When they reach the hallway, Naruto lets out a sigh much too weary for a five and a half year old. 

“You alright, buddy?” Kakashi asks, peering down at Naruto’s mop of hair. God, the kid needs a haircut practically every two weeks. 

“I don’t like talking about my bad dreams,” Naruto says sadly, a little watery, and Kakashi’s heart clenches painfully, “I don’t like how the doctor looks.” 

Kakashi knows what he means - not that the doctor is weird looking, just clinical. He makes a decision, then, upon seeing Naruto’s saddened face. It seems that Naruto  _ does _ want to talk, but the doctor makes him uncomfortable, and Kakashi can’t blame him. The guy makes him uncomfortable, too. They aren’t going to make any progress with a doctor that Naruto feels he can’t talk to. 

He sits Naruto in a waiting room chair and approaches the front desk, bestowing the desk lady with a kind smile that feels practiced on his face. She’s more than happy to put in his request for a therapist change, asks for his identification and other such paperwork. She tells him brightly that there’s a lovely woman who just transferred, a specialist in children’s therapy, and Kakashi thanks his lucky stars, asks her to put Naruto on the woman’s list. 

“Alright, buddy,” Kakashi says, kneeling in front of Naruto, placing a hand on each of his knobby knees. “We’re gonna see if a new doctor will be better, okay?” 

Naruto smiles, a nervous, excited little grin, “Okay, ‘Kashi… Thank you.” Kakashi’s heart squeezes a little at the relief on Naruto’s face - he should have put in for a doctor change much sooner than this.

“Let’s get some ice cream, you did great today, little man,” Kakashi says, rising and taking Naruto’s hand again. Naruto jumps and whoops ecstatically, all too loud in the small waiting room, and Kakashi’s chest released a tightness he hadn’t noticed was there. 

 

~

 

Kakashi is not entirely, fully, or completely aware in any way how he got roped into this. He had thought that living with Naruto for approximately half a year would give him  _ some  _ noise resistance, and that having eight dogs and a child would adjust him to unbridled chaos, and yet-

Four children in his house is just  _ too  _ many children. 

“Naruto,” He calls, from where he’s seated at the dining room table, attempting to shield himself from the deafening noise. “Inside voice please.”

Naruto looks at him with a face of utter betrayal, then,  _ very _ loudly, proclaims, “You said I didn’t have to use my inside voice at home!” 

Kakashi slides his head from the palm of his hand to the tabletop, muttering, “That was conditional and hinged upon you using your inside voice at school, which Iruka has called me about 5 times already in the last week.” He knows it’s no use to say it any louder than that. Naruto will only ignore him. He begins to think that maybe the plans he’s been making for Naruto’s 6th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese are a wild mistake. 

He listens for an hour and a half longer, attempting to stop himself from counting down the minutes until Gai comes to pick up his kids. When he’d agreed to babysit, he hadn’t thought it would be quite this chaotic. From what he’s seen of Neji and Tenten in the schoolyard when he stops to pick Naruto up after school, they’re quiet kids, especially Neji. Lee is about as loud as he had been expecting, but Neji and Tenten are… complete wild cards. 

He observes the chaos in the living room from the point of view of a long reigning king, watching his kingdom get ransacked. Neji has crowned himself king of the living room, and is ruling over the other kids with an iron fist - loudly proclaiming random laws and then calling for a guillotine when they’re broken - where had he even  _ learned _ the word guillotine? Tenten has simmered down from her initial excitement, currently wrapped up in a very serious, very confusing conversation with Urushi. Kakashi had a hard time parsing out any of the words she said at the start, and thus had given up trying. Urushi, to his credit, looks very interested in what she has to say. 

He figures the rambunctiousness can be owed to Naruto’s never ending energy - he seems to sweep up any child within a five foot radius into his hurricane of enthusiasm and screaming. Kakashi rubs one tired eye and shakes his head, resolving that at the very least, it’s good that Naruto isn’t having a hard time bonding with other children. It seems that sociability isn’t an issue he’ll ever have with his kid.

He feels a tug on his sleeve and looks down in response. 

“‘Kashi, I think everyone’s hungry,” Naruto says, apparently having been elected spokesperson for the group. Neji, Lee, and Tenten all stare timidly from the living room, “Can we have a snack?” 

Kakashi smiles fondly, “Sure, kiddo, let me find something for you all, and then I’ll put on something for you to watch while you eat.” 

Naruto bounces back into the living room, announcing loudly that “his Kakashi” is going to bring them all some snacks. Kakashi set to work cutting up a box of strawberries he’d bought - slowly, his fridge has started to fill more with fresh fruit and assorted cooking items than leftover takeout boxes. He found that Naruto really liked sweet fruits, and felt just a little stir of satisfaction every time he fed the kid something healthy, instead of sodium packed pre-prepared foods. Days like this, he even feels like he’s getting the hang of the whole dad thing. Days where he burns whatever dinner he’s attempting and has to revert to mac and cheese… not so much. 

“Strawberries for the hellions,” He announces as he comes out into the living room, holding the strawberries high above his head as the children circle him, much the way the dogs do when he grabs the treat canister.

He herds them around the coffee table, setting the couch pillows down on the ground so they can sit on them, and then holds a poll for what movie they want to watch. After a few eardrum shattering moments, he chooses The Lion King for them, and they fall quiet for the first time in 5 hours. Kakashi feels his ears pop, like the way they do after leaving a concert. 

When Gai arrives halfway into the movie, Kakashi invites him in, gesturing to the kitchen table and puttering around to get them both coffee. He settles heavily into the seat next to Gai and slides a chipped coffee mug toward him, which Gai accepts gratefully, cradling it between his hands.

“If you’ve got time, we can let them finish the movie,” Kakashi says, “Nothing like causing a riot because you paused a movie halfway through, right?” 

Gai chuckles, “That’s world ending stuff, Kakashi, you know that.” Kakashi shakes his head in response, casting his eyes to the heavens. He does know that, sadly. 

“Thanks for watching them, Kakashi, I really do appreciate it,” Gai says, “Normally work doesn’t send me on weekend meetings, so it shouldn’t happen again - this one was really last minute. I know my kids are a handful, I hope they weren’t too hellish while I was gone.”

Kakashi scoffs and waves a hand, “They were perfect angels,” he lies, and Gai levels him with a knowing look. Kakashi grins easily, enjoying the back and forth. “They’re loud, but I’m fairly used to that. It’s no problem for an old friend. I will say it’s taught me a valuable lesson, though.” 

“And what’s that, eh?” Gai asks, his lips pulling up in a half smile.

“That I’m not having more kids,” Kakashi jokes, “One is already more than enough.” 

Gai chuckles, again, “You say that, now, but eventually they start piling up and you aren’t even sure where you got them! I mean, you know Lee is mine, but sometimes I feel like Neji and Tenten materialized out of nowhere.” 

Kakashi regards Gai as the man stares fondly into the living room, where the kids are held rapt by another musical number. His eyes seem to soften, a wistful smile curling his lips. Kakashi almost feels as though the love is coming off of Gai in waves, warming his kitchen more than the sun through the sliding glass door ever could.

“Eventually, you just can’t imagine life without them,” Gai says softly. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Kakashi’s throat feels tight, his eyes drifting to Naruto’s wild, blonde head. He swallows and forces a light laugh, suddenly feeling as though the world is all too big, “Just wait until they’re teenagers. Then we’ll see what we have to say, huh?” 

Gai looks back at him, smiling, and Kakashi sees something  _ more _ there, in his eyes. “Guess so. You know… you’re different now, Kakashi.” 

“More tired looking, I’m sure,” Kakashi grouses, but Gai shakes his head, appraising Kakashi with the air of someone who likes what they see.

“Well, yes, but that’s just a complementary side of being a parent,” He jokes, and they both release a very tired chuckle, “But, no. I mean… you look… happier. More full. Like you have purpose, now. I feel like I’ve never seen this look in your eye, Kakashi.” 

Kakashi nods, avoiding Gai’s eyes, now. He’s known Gai since high school, had somewhat avoided the ever positive aura the man had always exuded back then, especially when he’d been avoiding feelings on the whole, after-

Anyway, Gai had attempted to befriend him, despite all the rumors that had spread, and the general indifferent attitude that Kakashi gave everyone. When Kakashi’s dad had passed, Gai had been the one person at the whole school who had approached Kakashi with any sense of normalcy. It was so wildly different from the whispers and muttering that everyone else had presented that Kakashi had allowed Gai to sit with him at lunch. A quiet, slightly one sided friendship had bloomed, and despite Kakashi’s aimless approach to life, Gai had always been a supporter of his. 

“He gives me something to focus on,” He says, at length. He runs a finger around the rim of his coffee mug, thoughtful, “Somewhere to aim my sights on when it’s all… too much.” 

Gai nods, but he doesn’t push it. Gai is great that way. He seems to understand what Kakashi means even when Kakashi isn’t sure what he means, himself.

They return to watching the movie and their kids in turn, warmed by the sunlight spilling in through the windows and something else, something warmer and less distinguishable.

 

~

When the movie is over, Gai gathers his kids up and herds them out the door, calling another thanks to Kakashi. Naruto loudly shouts goodbye to all of them, one at a time, hopping around and nearly falling over as the dogs accompany the family to the door. 

“I  _ love _ having people over to play,” Naruto announces, once everything has calmed down again. “You aren’t good at playing.” 

“I’m perfectly good at playing,” Kakashi replies, crossing his arms smartly, “Maybe  _ you  _ aren’t good at playing, little man.” 

Naruto stares indignantly, then dramatically stomps one foot. “I’m the best at playing!” 

Kakashi can go on on, just to mess with Naruto, but he slouches into a defeated pose instead, “You’re right… I could never compare to someone as good at playing as you are. You win.” 

Naruto does a victory dance that looks somewhat like a seizure, and then hops over to Kakashi like a bunny. “Can we watch another movie before bed tonight? I wanted to watch Tangled!” 

Kakashi shrugs, “Sure, dude. It’s the weekend, anything goes. Let’s get ready for bed and then we’ll watch the movie.” 

They go through their night time routine, which Kakashi has perfected over the summer and the last few school weeks. Nothing makes Naruto sleepy like a warm bath, and Naruto has a little more agency than when Kakashi had first adopted him, so at this point Kakashi brings one of his many books and reads to the background noise of Naruto’s aimless songs and superhero scenarios. 

When they settle in on the couch, Kakashi knows Naruto will be out for the count before Rapunzel even manages to get out of her tower. He leaves it on, still, because Tangled is a weirdly compelling movie to watch, and he doesn’t have the willpower to turn it off and lug Naruto’s unconscious body to his bed. 

The next morning, after a night of sleeping crooked on the couch, with Naruto’s body nestled against his ribcage, Kakashi swears he’ll never fall asleep on the couch again. He rouses himself up, leaving Naruto sprawled on the couch. Then, he prepares himself some coffee, feeds the dogs, stands in a ray of sunlight shining through his kitchen window until it feels just this side of too warm, and walks back out to the living room. 

Pakkun and Bull have settled themselves by Naruto, Bull’s hulk pressed against the edge of the couch, Pakkun resting against Naruto’s side. Naruto had shifted, one hand resting upon both of the dogs gently, and Kakashi feels something small and warm and inexplicable bloom in his chest. 

Naruto’s hair shines slightly in the morning light, his tiny, chubby face marked on one side from being pressed against the couch and Kakashi’s side. Kakashi thinks of Gai, thinks of waking up to multiple sleepy, pillow marked faces demanding their favorite cereal. Thinks of Naruto’s tiny, warm hand in his as they walk into the hospital so Naruto can heal. Thinks of how he’s managed to perfect half the recipes in his cookbook, of how he hasn’t burned down his own house on accident yet, of how every day that he wakes up and gets Naruto ready for school, a part of him feels like this is exactly what he’s meant to be doing. Like his whole life he’s just been waiting for Naruto to wear him out with his screaming, every minute of every hour of every day. 

He thinks about Neji and Tenten clinging to Gai’s pants, Lee ecstatic over a piggyback ride. 

He thinks about  _ more _ . 


End file.
